


dreams will make you cry

by shelllhead



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - High School, Bucky likes punching people, Cuddles, Fluff and Angst, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Protective Bucky Barnes, Sharing a Bed, Tiberius is an Ass, Tony likes cats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 10:55:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18871786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shelllhead/pseuds/shelllhead
Summary: It’s been a week since he arrived here, and his mom’s promises that the boarding school was going to get better as he made progress are starting to seem like blatant lies, told only to make getting rid of him easier.





	dreams will make you cry

**Author's Note:**

> Another fic I wrote for the imaginetonyandbucky blog!
> 
> Prompt was:
> 
> Tony is new to some boarding school that Bucky is already at (with his friends, as in, the avengers) He gets assigned as Bukcy's new roommate. He never wanted to go to the boarding school, he misses home and Jarvis terribly, and feels really, utterly alone and scared. Bucky is nice to him, sure, but he doesn't try to make friends with him that much. One night Bucky wakes up to Tony sobbing into his pillow, because he's so sad and lonely and homesick. (he comforts him and avengers take him in?)

Yeah, well- Ms. Martha hates me, it ain’t really surprising that I got bunked together with some new kid instead of you. ‘Sides, Sam would mope around if you roomed with me.” Barnes sighs, at least that’s what Tony thinks he does from his distorted point of view after being stopped by the not exactly hushed voices coming out of the room- his room, but not really-, and opting to hide behind the wall outside the room instead of going in, his back to the wall and his hand fiddling with the buttons of his shirt, nervous, feeling unwelcome.

When the other person in the room- Steve, the golden boy of the school, Tony’s mind supplies- comes out and bumps into Tony just as he preparing to walk into the room casually as if he isn’t debating whether to come in after Barnes falls asleep every single day, he gives Tony an apologetic look and a guilty greeting, as Tony smiles right back with an unnaturally wide smile and heads into the room, closing the door behind him.

Without sparing a glance at Barnes who very much does not have a shirt on- as usual- he throws his bag on his bed- the bed, not his bed- and promptly locks himself into the bathroom.

It’s been a week since he arrived here, and his mom’s promises that the boarding school was going to get better as he made progress are starting to seem like blatant lies, told only to make getting rid of him easier.

_You need to get some manners, Tony. You are childish, not disciplined, and-_

_I got accepted into MIT  and I’m 15, dad-_

_Enough. You’ll go to MIT when you learn how to behave._

The splash of water against his face doesn’t seem to take away from the heat that seems to burn within since he woke up today, induced by seeing that there’s only one cookie left from the ones that Jarvis sent with him. He knows it’s ridiculous, but he misses him, and even the cookies don’t taste the same when Jarvis isn’t there to scold him for attempting to eat two of them at the same time.

_You eat way too much for someone your size, Anthony._

_Only your cooking, Jarvis. And Anna’s, of course._

He misses his mom, too. He knows she never wanted him to leave, either, but she wants him to be happy, and it’s true that he is a hard kid to deal with. She has always been willing to try, though, unlike his father. His father had always wanted Tony to be easy.

He isn’t. And he knows boarding school won’t change that just because he gets yelled at on a daily basis.

_I don’t want to go, mom. I don’t want to leave. What will happen to Dummy? I was just about to finish him-_

_You’ll come back, Bambi. You’ll see, everything will work out._

He jolts when the banging at the door gets persistent.

He shakes his head, huffs out with annoyance, and opens the door, lips thinned and eyes fiery, prepared to face an angry Bucky. He can stay in his own bathroom for however long he wants dammit-

“You okay?”

“Sorry?” Tony makes a face, confused, but his fists loosen.

Bucky shrugs. “You’ve been in there for quite a time.”

“I’m fine,” he says, pushing past him- well, more like his shoulder hitting the guy’s chest as he passes by- and plops down onto the bed.

He gets the cookie jar out, stares at it, and puts it under his bed again. All the while Barnes stares at him with strange, inquiring eyes that Tony ignores. Maybe he will eat the cookies later.

He doesn’t hate his roommate. The guy gives him the time of the day, never calls him out on his age, and doesn’t act like he is a child, or that he is some prize that he needs to attain or stare at. He goes about his day, hangs out with his golden best friend and the scary redhead that Tony secretly admires, and some other people. He doesn’t care about Tony. It’s good.

Until it isn’t. 

**_\---------_ **

It happens when he jolts awake from a dream. He is sitting with Jarvis and Anna at their breakfast table, the smell of fresh bagels coming out, and the cat Tony found when he was five and hid in their home, and never got around to name, wandering around the kitchen, Jarvis pouring tea and Anna laughing at something his husband said. Tony is happy. Tony is home.

But he isn’t really, as it becomes clear to him when the unfamiliar scent of his sheets engulf him, and he opens his eyes to the dark room, his heart beating fast and his hands clutching the sheets tightly, flowing tears on his cheeks, and he can’t help but sob.

He has his back turned to Barnes who is still sleeping, so he curls into himself and tries to muffle his crying, and he thinks he is succeeding until there’s a weight pressing down on his bed, and a hesitant hand on his shoulder.

“When I first came here, two years ago- I was about your age, I think- not taking the classes you do, obviously, but you get what I mean. I hated this place. I mean, I still do, but I have some friends to hate it with. Ms. Martha says the more friends I get, the more trouble I get into. Just the other day, I kicked someone’s ass for calling Nat names. After she kicked his ass. I just couldn’t hold it in, ya know? ” The weight shifts, Bucky crosses his legs, Tony assumes, and for some reason, Tony doesn’t turn around or tell him to fuck off.

“Guess what I mean is, I know it sucks, and you’ve been givin’ me the cold shoulder, but we still don’t have a genius in our group even though Clint seems to think he is one.”

Tony snorts at that, and wipes at his face, kind of embarrassed, but not yet feeling inclined to kick Bucky off his bed. Instead, he turns around to face him, and backs away till he is plastered against the wall, a silent invitation, maybe a step too far away.

Bucky doesn’t hesitate as he slips right in, though, careful to keep away at a distance but with a light smile on his lips, understanding, not at all like that indifferent with a hint of bad-boy-with-a-leather-jacket-and-a-cigarette vibe he always seems to have going on.

It all goes downhill from there.

——————————

It’s six months after they sleep in the same bed that Tony finally feels like he belongs in the school, and that he is- albeit relatively- happy to be where he is.

This realisation hits when they are at lunch, and Nat is feeding him crackers because he is refusing to eat anything else and she is very adamant that he eats- surprisingly, Nat seems to have a really soft spot for him and actually shows it- and Steve is sitting across them trying not to fall asleep and fall into his lunch as he was at football practice all weekend, as Sam yells at some guy over Steve’s head about something. The others are scattered around the table, Clint and Thor focused on their food entirely, and Bruce is at the library for a biology project with Betty whom he still denies having feelings for.

Bucky is sitting right beside Tony. Tony has a leg dangling off from Bucky’s right leg and a hand on Bucky’s hair, fingers tangling and untangling themselves almost reflexively as he finally swats Nat’s away and focuses on Bucky, positioning his body to see him better. Nat seems to be content with how much he ate, because she just smiles knowingly and directs her attention to a now half-sleeping Steve.

He is happy.

Bucky, though, seems to stare into his meat as if he wants to butcher the animal all over again, eyes focused on one spot and cold, motionless.

“Attention.” Tony demands, leaning in until his lips almost hit Bucky’s face.

With that, Bucky snaps out of it and turns to the side to the face him, almost causing their lips to touch, and making Tony duck his head and blush without meaning to.

Subtle. His growing crush really is starting to affect his ability to appear as a confident and able individual who doesn’t stutter and blush at the slightest attention and touch from their crush.

Bucky hooks a hand under Tony’s chin and raises it, an inquiring look that he always seems to have when looking to Tony.

“What, you can’t get enough attention from all the eyes already on you, doll?” He teases, and bumps their noses together before letting Tony’s face go, making Tony want to cling to him, but Bucky seems to avoid his eyes even when saying the words, making Tony’s heart sink.

He is probably being overdramatic.

“I want yours.” He pushes, now throwing his other leg over Bucky’s legs, both feet dangling and his elbows resting on his own legs, eyes looking up at Bucky’s strong jawline and grey eyes.

The word crush may not cover it, but he refuses to think about that.

Bucky seems to crack then, turning his steel gaze to Tony’s.

He opens his mouth.

“You have sex hair, Stark. Tell him next time so he doesn’t go so hard on you.” Ty ruffles Tony’s hair as he passes by, throwing a wink to him, making him almost squawk- but he will deny that till he dies.

In hindsight, Tony probably shouldn’t have ever befriended Tiberius Stone, and only did so because he thought it would make his father accept him into their home again, something about making good connections with beneficial people- Ty’s father being the CEO and owner of Viastone- an extremely successful- and dirty company that Tony wants nothing to do with.

Ty is an asshole, but Tony thought he wasn’t so bad. Until he decided that he wanted to date Tony and actively started ruining every moment he had with Bucky when he saw them having one. It is, to say the least, annoying, but it’s not like Bucky is into Tony, or anything.

He just huffs out in annoyance and attempts to fix his hair, cheeks reddening, and he pulls his legs away, sitting properly and not looking at Bucky.

That is, until Bucky shoots to his feet and punches Ty right in the face.

Now, Tony isn’t a stranger to Bucky Barnes being overprotective when it comes to his friends, but Tony can almost see the unnecessary force Bucky puts into the blow, making Ty crash into the nearest table with blood gushing from his nose.

“Buck!” Steve exclaims, seemingly not at all sleepy as he stands and basically jumps over the table to restrain Bucky who is still radiating with anger that he doesn’t seem to want to contain.

“He told you he ain’t interested. Leave him alone or next time blood won’t be the only thing you’re losin’.” Bucky’s voice is surprisingly calm, but cold, and warning.

After Ty leaves with muttered promises of revenge, Tony gives one betrayed look at Bucky and takes his bag, leaving the hall, his head thumping and voices getting distant.

He doesn’t feel very good.

Bucky finds him an hour after, his back against the wall just out the back entrance to his favourite building in the school. It’s his favourite because there aren’t many people who like to hang out there, except a few guys who secretly smoke and lots of cats. Tony is in the process of appreciating a black cat when Bucky materialises in front of him.

“Go away.” Tony demands, trying to look over his shoulder to see the cat again stubbornly. “Leia needs my attention.”

“She can wait for her turn, doll. Look at me.”

Tony does, face scrunched up and trying to look indifferent.

“I’m not a kid. I can defend myself.” He says out of the blue after a moment, looking at Bucky pointedly. “So what if he thinks we are… doing /that/? It doesn’t matter. He’s just saying it. Doesn’t make it true. You didn’t need to punch him.” He huffs out, almost offended.

He knows it’s stupid to be hurt because Bucky is angry at Ty implying they were an item, but it just hurts, he isn’t saying that it makes sense. It doesn’t.

“You think that’s why I punched him? He’s been verbally  _assaulting_  you for months, Tony, just cause you don’t wanna date him. He had it comin’.” Bucky shrugs, slings an arm around Tony’s waist. “I don’t regret it, but I’m sorry if you are angry at me.”

Tony looks at him, and is convinced that Bucky is telling the truth, so he leans his head against Bucky’s chest and sighs. “It’s fine.”

“No. ‘M not letting him talk to you like that. Or anyone else, for that matter.” Bucky replies with confidence.

“I can defend myse-”

“You are a baby.”

“I’m a genius and-”

“A baby.”

“Am not.”

“Yes, you are.” Bucky’s lips curl, and Tony knows  that he is teasing, but he takes it as a challenge.

He gets on his tiptoes and plants a light kiss on Bucky’s lips, just meant to be teasing, and pulls away, looking at him daringly. “What were you saying?” He hums.

Bucky is gaping at him, cheeks red and eyes wide, and just as Tony is starting to get worried about breaking Bucky, he is slammed against the wall with lips, hot and needy, against his.

An involuntary moan escapes his lips as his arms wrap themselves around Bucky’s neck and he presses himself against him.

When Bucky finally pulls away, he is looking at Tony with eyes that promise more later.

“You are not a baby.”

Tony can only hum in approval.


End file.
